Donald J. Boudreaux

Thoughts on Democratic Choice

“Freedom of choice is wonderful, and democracy – properly understood and constrained – can be a blessing. But democracy becomes a heinous curse when its ethos is reduced to nothing more than the belief that the majority is free to choose whatever it fancies.” ~ Donald J. Boudreaux

An Open Letter to a Candidate for Political Office

“We can always use another genuine entrepreneur. You are rightly proud of being one. Please, stick to being an entrepreneur. Only then will you truly help not only your fellow Californians in the 42nd district, but the whole of humanity.” ~ Donald J. Boudreaux

Avoid the Reductio When Arguing Over the Minimum Wage

“While the reductio is an unsound economic argument against the minimum wage, there remain many sound arguments against this officious intervention. Not the least of these is that a minimum wage will reduce employment options for workers.” ~ Donald J. Boudreaux

An Open Letter to Phil Magness, by Don Boudreaux

“The future of economic analysis would be brighter if economists today were more knowledgeable about its past – and thought as deeply as did earlier scholars such as Buchanan, Stigler, and Dewey about the nature of competition and the complexities of real-world markets.” ~ Donald J. Boudreaux

A Current Burden of Deficit Financing

“Only someone who is convinced that government will undertake only economically worthwhile projects regardless of the means of financing – or someone who doesn’t understand economics – can look favorably upon deficit financing by government.” ~ Donald J. Boudreaux

Behind Seemingly ‘Objective’ Statistics

“The seemingly objective and straightforward reality is, in fact, a distorted reality. Government policy based upon such a distorted understanding of reality is likely to worsen the true reality.” ~ Donald J. Boudreaux

Choice: Real and In Extremis

“It’s flabbergasting that those who denounce the market on the grounds that the choices it leaves open to individuals are not real – that these choices are largely made by people in extremis – look upon the outcomes of government coercion with such fondness and favor.” ~ Donald J. Boudreaux

The Enduring Relevance of Mises and Hayek’s Critique of Socialism

“The fact that the market, thankfully, is so robust as not to grind to a halt at the slightest provocation ought not be mistaken as evidence that government interventions into the economy are harmless unless and until they begin to resemble full-on socialism.” ~ Donald J. Boudreaux

The Inevitable Failure of Socialism

“As Mises summarized the fate of a fully socialized economy, ‘As soon as one gives up the conception of a freely established monetary price for goods of a higher order, rational production becomes completely impossible.'” ~ Donald J. Boudreaux

The Radical Message of Economics Well-Learned

“I’ve no complaint against economists who craft their public messages in order to avoid a loss of audience. But I do worry that these efforts subtly create in the minds of many such economists unwarranted doubts about the merits of laissez faire.” ~ Donald J. Boudreaux